May 12, 2010

Hey Everyone!
Just wanted to let you know that the new designs are NOW available for sale on our website here in the New Products section at the bottom of our homepage....AND the book is available for pre-order too! We are offering it at a special promotional price of $25.99 until it is in house next month. When you place your order, it will not be processed until we receive our stock. We will notify you when it ships. Please also remember that you can request to have your autographed copy personalized. Just leave your instructions in the comments section when you place your order.

I got my promotional copies on Monday afternoon....the book is just beautiful! My publisher did such a wonderful job with the layout and photographs...I know you are going to LOVE it! Go on over and take a peek....there are some more shots of the projects as well as some points of interest about the book, too. Below is another project from Sew Serendipity. This is the Ruffled Skirt.

Time is drawing close for market now. We will be leaving in a week and there isn't a ton left to do, but I still have a few things I want to sew before we fly out. If anyone is attending the show in Minneapolis, please come by and say hello! We would love to visit with you and show off all the new goodies. We will be in booth #1835. I am also going to do a presentation at Schoolhouse the day before market opens, showing the projects from the book and discussing the layout. If you will be in attendance, be sure to check it out!

May 5, 2010

Hey Everyone! The time has finally come to begin sharing bits of my first book with you. I should be receiving a couple of promotional copies in the next few days, and I can tell you, it still doesn't seem real yet. I guess until that darling is in my hot little hands, this still all seems like a dream!

At the top of this post is the cover. This is one of the many skirt projects in the book. Doesn't the model have great legs? I wish those were mine! (so, no, that is NOT me!) For those of you familiar with how I approach designs in my patterns, you will be pleased to know that I have followed a similar format for the book. There are skirt, tunic/dress, and jacket designs in the book to total 18 projects (so, that is 6 each). Just some technical stuff, the book is a hardback with a concealed spiral binding so it will lay open when you sew (a great feature, I think). The pattern pieces are full-size and printed on tissue that you will find in a pocket on the inside cover....no enlarging at the copier for these pattern pieces!

I loved playing around with the different projects so much that you will find many of them can go together. So, not only are these great projects, but you can actually build a wardrobe from these designs. Here is another beauty shot of a jacket and skirt that you will find in the book (this is one of my personal favorites):

In writing the manuscript, I thought about all the things that I would love to include in a pattern, but just don't have the space. Therefore, there are chapters that tell all about how to measure yourself and how to apply it to different parts of the pattern pieces to get a great custom fit. Sewing is only part of the magic that happens when you are making clothing for yourself. If you don't feel like a million bucks wearing something you made yourself, then a part of the process was not fully utilized. I aim to help in all aspects through the book with tips for choosing fabrics and making the design your own in addition to fitting tips and fully photographed step by step sewing techniques (yes, those are my actual hands!) that are some of my favorites to use.

In the next several posts, I will be sharing more photos of the book as well as how the book is laid out and the special way I decided to approach the design work. Stay tuned and let me know what you think so far!

The book goes on sale in June. We will post an official way to order through our website at that time and you can order your own personal SIGNED copy if you wish! For those of you attending market, I will have the projects from the book on display along with the promotional copy for you to take a closer look. We will be in booth #1835, so come by and say hey!